With the D1X Nikon also introduced the version 2 of it's NEF conversion
software Nikon Capture. Except of the fact that it took quite some time
after the launch of the D1X till capture reached the market there is one
obvious improvement:

Lower price at $199 (although some might argue it should be free as
part of the camera set)

Our review about Capture
version 1 (list price of about $500) revealed that it was quite a
good tool with some serious flaws:

Poor WB control

The tone compensation set in the camera could not be overruled in
Capture

Capture 2 not only fixed these problems, it is clearly a much better
product than Capture 1 at an acceptable price. For us it is clear that
every photographer who uses the NEF format with the D1X/D1H needs this
software (also we would recommend Bibble and Qimage as they complement
Capture). If you even use compressed NEFs (as we do) then Capture 2 is
an absolute must.

This review only looks at Capture 2 as a NEF conversion tool. Capture
2 also allows to control the D1X/D1H in tethered mode and the manipulation
of in camera generated JPGs. Both is not the subject of this article.

We also recommend to read our first
review as many observations and tips hold true.

As always this review is no replacement for the manual although we will
look at the different tools in Capture and discuss how to use them. The
version we use works on a PC but probably many things are the same on a
Mac.

Setting up Capture 2 Preferences

We recommend to enable the "Copy Shooting Data to
IPTC Caption" as this way Photoshop keeps the data found in the EXIF
info as part of the file. This option was first introduced by Bibble and
if we recall correctly we were pointing Eric this way.

These are the preferences for CMS (Color Management System). Most important
is the setting for the monitor profile. This way you get nearly identical
colors in Capture 2 and Photoshop 6.

As working space we use "Adobe RGB" and in this case the saved
TIF files get correctly flagged with this profile.

In these preferences mainly the location of Photoshop
is important. Capture 2 allows to open a saved file (TIF/JPG) in Photoshop.

White Balance

One of the most important operations on a converted NEF
file is to get the WB (white balance) right. The D1X/D1H behave very differently
from the D1 in terms of the WB. While the D1 modified the NEF data in dependency
of the cameras WB settings the D1X/D1H only record the cameras WB setting
in the meta data and leave the NEF image data unchanged. This allows any
WB changes later in Capture.

The WB tool in Capture 2 is very sophisticated. One of the options is
to set the "Gray Point" (this was the only WB option in Capture
1). Selecting a neutral gray is a powerful way to correct the WB. But
only if there is some neutral gray area in the photo (a good strategy
is to photograph a gray card as part of a photo series). Especially in
nature photography there is often not any gray object inside the picture.

Especially useful is the correction of the WB using the "Red"
and "Blue" sliders. This feature is also available in Qimage
but NC2 displays the effect of the WB correction much more in real time
on the full image. This looks to get my favorite WB tool!

Here the newly added Capture WB tools help.

Capture 2 allows to correct the WB as recorded in the camera or even
to set some selected color temperature.

Getting the WB right is still not trivial. This is due to the complex
nature of color and not because Capture 2 lacks the right tools.

Advanced RAW

The features in this tool were missing in Capture 1 and
all are very important.

Exposure Compensation

Minus EV corrections shift the histogram to left and plus corrections
to the right. Be aware that spikes in the right indicate blown out highlights
which cannot be recovered by minus EV compensations

Sharpening

This tool uses regular sharpening (not Unsharp Mask see below). We currently
use the setting "normal" as NEF files need sharpening since
the AA (Anti Aliasing) filter on the CCD blurs the image slightly.

Tone Compensation

This feature allows to control the contrast of the image and this feature
was very much missed in Capture 1.

Color Mode

We are not quite sure what this feature does and how it relates to the
setting in the preferences.

Hue Adjustment

The standard value is 3. The values 0,1,2 shift the color to blue while
4,5,6 give it a more yellow cast.

Curves

We already liked the curves tool in Capture 1 a lot and
you can read here
how to use it.

The final image can also be resized in Capture 2. We only
use this feature for 1000 pixel wide preview JPGs.

Batch Processing

We use batch processing mainly to produce 1000 pixel wide
JPGs for preview. With the selection of "Apply settings in" you
can control how all the tools in Capture 2 are setup.

Misc

Capture 2 also is an improvement if used with
D1 NEF files.

Conclusion

We only covered some of the most important features of
Capture 2. But hopefully you get the idea that Capture 2 is a powerful application
to get good results from your NEF files. Overall we think Capture 2 is a
major improvement over Capture 1.